Kuitsuki ga chau de

Kuitsuki ga chau de

: Gender, Language and Change in a Women’s University

– – a phrase in Kansai dialect that can be roughly translated as

“The response is different.” This phrase encapsulates the feelings of a small group of

women discussing the change in atmosphere they have perceived with the arrival of male

students to their formerly all-female university. Demographic trends and economic

factors have led to significant changes in Japanese universities in recent years, including

amalgamation and privatization (Tsuruta, 2003), and the introduction of coeducation into

single-sex institutions. The way that women talk about these changes can provide rich

material for studies in gender and language. This paper examines the specific case of

Kyoto Tachibana University, an all-women’s liberal arts university that became a co-

educational institution in April of 2005. As an all-women’s university, the institution had

a student population of approximately 2,200. In terms of its membership (all female

students of approximately the same age), location (large percentage of students coming

from the Kansai region) and purpose (advanced education), the university was a

relatively homogenous community of practice. In the initial year of the new co-ed

system, approximately 140 men enrolled as first-year undergraduate students in the

faculties of Liberal Arts, Cultural Policy and Nursing. In this paper, I will examine how

a small sample of female students perceive and talk about the change from all-women’s

to co-educational institution, and how gender informs their perceptions and discussion of

this topic.

Japanese language, since classical times, but especially since the Meiji period,

has been considered a highly gendered language in areas of lexical choices, level of

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politeness, and sentence ending patterns. Inoue argues that modern, standard women’s

language was in effect created through state intervention from the end of the nineteenth

century as part of the conscious attempt to create a modern nation incorporating a

gendered division of labour (Inoue, 2002). The ideology encapsulated in the slogan

“Good Wife, W ise Mother” was promoted by the state, and language usage was

manipulated to further the state’s modernization project. This manipulation also included

the introduction of the idea of Standard Japanese, based on the upper-middle class dialect

spoken in the Yamanote area of Tokyo. The women in this study are defining their

speech patterns both in relation and in reaction to this now prevalent ideology concerning

norms for speech for women.

Most of the women whose conversation was recorded for this study come from

the Kansai region and speak some form of the Kansai dialect, rather than standard Tokyo

Japanese, as their mother tongue. It should be noted that, within the Kansai region,

many variations of the dialect exist, with some, particularly the Kyoto variation,

considered softer and less direct than other forms. However, in terms of generally

accepted cultural knowledge, and with respect to differences within the region itself, in

the plain form, Kansai dialect is considered to be less marked for gender than standard

Japanese. Furthermore, although the use of honorifics is common (Itose, 2004),

communication in the dialect is considered more direct (Palter and Slotsve, 1995).

Particularly when women use it, it tends to be considered less refined than the standard.

However, Kansai dialect is currently enjoying a covert prestige boom in Japan (Miyake,

3

19951), partly because many of the most prominent entertainers and comedians come

from the Osaka area and consciously use the dialect in their performance.

The data for this project was collected in June of 2005 as part of an investigation

of speech patterns among women in the Kansai region of Japan. Subjects were

interviewed and recorded in groups, pairs and individually. Three sets of pairs also

agreed to have their conversation videotaped when the investigator was not in the room.

The sample size for this study is small, and extracts from just four participants are used,

so this may limit the extent to which the results can be generalized. Recordings were

transcribed by a native-speaking female university student, and reviewed again by

another native-speaking female student. Transcripts and tapes were analysed using

techniques borrowed from Conversation Analysis, but informed by the view that

ideologies not recognized or accepted by the participants may be at work as a subtext in

their production of spoken discourse.

The excerpts quoted in this presentation are taken from approximately two hours

of taped conversations and interviews with two pairs of subjects, four women chose the

pseudonyms Satomi (S), Emiko (E), Mametaro (M), and Xavier (X). The choice of male

pseudonyms by Mametaro and Xavier is interesting, and suggests a choice to identify

more closely with male norms and standards. In June of 2005, all four were either 20 or

21 years old, and third-year students in the Department of English Communications at

Kyoto Tachibana University. All four had returned home in the spring of 2005 from a

six-month study abroad term in either Canada or Australia. Both of Satomi’s parents

work, Emiko’s father is a professional and her mother is a full-time homemaker.

1 Quoted in Sturtz Sreetharan, 2004

4

Mametaro and Xavier come from self-employed families where both parents work.

Satomi and Mametaro were born and raised the Kansai region, Emiko was born in the

region but moved away for several years during elementary school, and Xavier came to

Kyoto two years earlier from the island of Shikoku.

During the interview, the subjects were asked questions about gendered speech

patterns and their own perceptions of how they spoke. During the free conversation

segments, the students were told that they could talk about any topic they wanted, but a

list of suggested topics was also available. The first suggestion related to how the

students thought the university had changed since becoming co-ed. The two pairs,

Satomi - Emiko and Mametaro - Xavier, did in fact start out their conversations on this

topic.

In the audiotaped interview, participants were asked if they found it easier to

speak in all-female or in mixed-sex groups. Satomi and Emiko generally agreed that at

this stage in their lives they were comfortable speaking in either same-sex or mixed-sex

groups. Mametaro and Xavier, however, clearly stated that they preferred speaking with

men in mixed-sex groups. They expressed distaste for the topics discussed in all-female

groups and complained that a small number of speakers tend to dominate the

conversation. This observation contradicts Coates’s claim that female conversations tend

to be co-operative and jointly constructed (Coates, 1998), but the comment does

reproduce the stereotypical notion that the topics women discuss are fixed and limited

(Lakoff 1975; Kramer, quoted in Johnson and Aries, 1998). Mametaro goes on to

criticize same-sex female conversations for being insincere. Furthermore, she states that

conversations with men are more fun, interesting, and reach a deeper level.

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M: Kya:: tte moriagaru tte kanji de They get all excited like “Kyaa”

otoko no ko wa mou nanka omoshiroku and guys are like interesting,

shikamo chotto nanka fukaku ikeru and you can go a bit deeper with them,

toko mo aru shi, nanka tanoshiku ikeru and it’s like more fun,

kedo, shikamo onna no ko tte kekkou but with girls, they’re really quite

ura omote ga hageshii to iu ka two-faced. (Laughter)

Mametaro and Xavier set themselves apart from other women, whom they judge

as being two-faced, and seem to value and enjoy their conversations with men more.

However, while they orient themselves toward male conversations, they also

acknowledge that they themselves use or should use so-called feminine speech. When

asked to describe feminine speech, they use stereotypical terms, including soft, gentle,

indirect and emotional. Mametaro states that she uses feminine expressions, but this is

followed by laughter, possibly indicating that she is speaking ironically. In fact, of the

four women interviewed, Mametaro employs the least amount of standard feminine

speech patterns, and some of the expressions she uses very definitely index masculinity.

Mametaro plans to enter the traditionally male-dominated field of comedy. She currently

appears on a local television broadcast, and is an accomplished performer. One native

speaker likened her speech and mannerisms to Matsumoto Hitoshi of the comedy duo

Downtown. Both Mametaro and Xavier are founding members of the university

(traditional storytelling) club.

Xavier reveals some of the contradictions, or difficulties, she feels in using

feminine patterns, when she states that she “code-switches” between feminine and

rakugo

6

masculine styles. She says that if she becomes conscious that she is talking like a woman,

she will immediately follow up with an expression that sounds masculine. In her

statement she reveals the extent to which the naturalized ideology of the feminine norm

acts on her as a speaking subject, and her own conscious rejection of or resistance to that

norm.

(X) Onna pokku shabe, shabetteru natte If I become conscious that I’m talk, I’m talking

ishiki shite shimattara kyuu ni like a woman, all of a sudden

otokoppoku nanka kuchou kaetari toka it’s like my tone changes or like I have male

nanka aru mitai na kanji. mannerisms.

Nante iun desho. Nanka How can I say this? It’s like

nani nani de nai no? toka itta ato ni after I’ve said something like “such and such,

isn’t it”? [feminine]

Iya, iya, iya, honna kotonai wa I like, “No, no, no, it’s not like that at all.”

Nanka kou jibun no naka de kou nan ka It’s like that way inside of me.

Emiko explicitly states that she speaks in a feminine manner. She says that she

consciously rejects vulgar language usage considered “unfeminine.”

(E) Jibun ga shaberu no ha onna kotoba The fact is that what I speak is women’s

nan desu yo language

Kitanai kotoba zukai ha shaberanai shi I don’t use dirty language

Onnappoku shabetterun desu yo ne I speak in a feminine way.

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In fact, of the four women interviewed, Emiko’s speech exhibits the greatest

number of examples of structures and sentence-ending particles that index femininity, for

example, the combination seen above. In terms of pitch, her range is much higher,

and she uses a greater range of modulation, with the effect being that she seems more

emotionally engaged.

Satomi, on the other hand, comments that while she always thought her language

was “normal,” since coming to university and meeting people from other places, she has

been told that her language is vulgar, or , a term usually associated with male

speech, and furthermore that her dialect is very strong, . Satomi was born and

raised in Kyoto, and when asked what style of speech epitomizes femininity, she

identifies the Kyoto dialect. Satomi uses the terms (soft, gentle),

(calm and quiet) and (refined) when describing Kyoto dialect as

spoken by women. All of these terms are commonly associated with traditional norms

for feminine speech and resemble terms and qualities identified by university students in

an earlier study (Satake 1998). Satomi’s comments here illustrate the disconnect between

norms and realities for young women today. While Satomi appears to accept and

reproduce the idealized norm, she herself speaks something quite different, and in fact

she rationalizes her own “ ” speech by saying the she comes from a part of Kyoto

where all kinds of dialects (Kyoto, Osaka and Nara) are mixed in.

These four women represent a range of speaking styles and illustrate the fact that

even among women of similar class and regional backgrounds, there is a broad spectrum

of non-homogenous femininities performed through speech (Matsumoto, 2002). These

women are consciously or unconsciously choosing to speak in different modes that can

yo ne

kitanai

kitsui

yawarakai ochitsuite

shizuka shitsu ga aru

kitanai

8

be considered, to a greater or lesser extent, constrained by norms for feminine speech.

However, while it appears that these women are conscious of gender stereotypes, and do

not necessarily use stereotypical standard Japanese gendered speech patterns at all times

and in all situations, the content of a large part of their speech recorded here tends to

reproduce traditional stereotypes regarding accepted or acceptable behavior for females

and males. The following extracts concerning the transition to co-education at Tachibana

illustrate underlying assumptions surrounding norms and expectations for behaviour.

Satomi tentatively characterizes the change as a rejuvenation.

S: Kyougaku ni natte wakagaetta. It’s been rejuvenated since it became co-ed.

Koto nai? Nanka wakagaetta tte Hasn’t it? Rejuvenation.

iikata hen yakedo It’s, like, a strange way to call it.

E: Hai. Ee--, na. Yes, yeah, right.

S: Nanka, joshidai niwa nai genki sa Somehow, it’s like there’s something like an

energy now

mitai na no ga dete kita. that there isn’t at a women’s university.

E: Ee:: Datte, sou iu hodo otoko no ko Rea::lly? But, there aren’t that many boys here.

inai yo.

S: Iya, inai kedo, e, demo nanka otoko no No, there aren’t, but, uh, but somehow guys

ko wa otoko no ko de sonzai kan, nanka are guys, somehow they’re projecting the feeling

dashitoru, jibunra de of their existence, by themselves

E: A— naruhodo. Katamatteru yo ne. Oh, I get it. They’re hanging out in groups,

aren’t they.

S: Orera o mirun janai iu kanji de. It’s like “Don’t be looking at us.”

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Satomi expresses a direct opinion which she then mitigates with “hasn’t it?” or

“isn’t that the fact?” and then “it’s a strange way to call it.” In fact, Emiko doesn’t seem

convinced, expressing only weak agreement, and then fairly direct disagreement with her

intonation and her statement “there aren’t that many boys here.” She uses the term

, or boy, emphasizing their youth, despite the fact that the “boys” are only two years

younger. Satomi then backtracks, but comes back with her opinion, invoking a boys-

will-be-boys explanation. She feels that somehow, despite their small number, the male

students manage to make their existence known, in this case in terms of energy and

vitality, with a touch of attitude.

Soon after, Satomi likens the male students to her younger brother. Emiko

comments that the boys are , or cute, further emphasizing the fact that they are

younger. Between the two of them, although more on Satomi’s part, as demonstrated by

the minimal responses from Emiko, they seem to be building up an image of youthful,

energetic “younger brother” category members who are cute, sweet, but able to establish

their own territory.

S: Nanka toriaezu, kyougaku ni natte Well, for now anyways, since it’s become co-ed

uchi no otouto ga iru mitai na. it’s like my little brother is here.

Choudo ikkai sei ya shi He’s just a first year student, too

E: Kawaii na:: minna They’re cute, aren’t they, all of them.

S: Nanka kyapi kyapi shiteiru. Like, there’s all this energy.

E: Un. Nanka. Yeah, or something.

otoko

no ko

kawaii

10

Satomi uses the expression which evokes unruly and noisy youthful

energy, and is usually used in reference to girls, implying that the energy she feels

created is partly due to the reaction of women to the men’s presence.

The talk moves into a discussion about the formation of the baseball team at

Tachibana. Baseball in Japan is an exclusively male sport with very nostalgic

associations to an image of an idealized young athlete who exemplifies dedication, hard

work, sportsmanship and spirit. This reference to baseball serves to bring to mind an

image of male youth around which most Japanese share a common understanding and

feeling of nostalgia.

Mametaro is unequivocally enthusiastic about the appearance of male students on

the campus, although she also refers to them as boys.

M: Watashi wa, ano:: zenzen mou I think, um, it’s absolutely,

sugoi ii to omou. Meccha ee. Mou, ne. it’s really fabulous, It’s really great,

nanka. kimochi ga chau ne. Somehow the feeling’s different, isn’t it.

X: Dou iu, dou iu toko ga ii no? What kind, what kind of things are good?

M: Nanka, otoko no ko ga yappari ii yan. Like, boys are, you know, just good. (Laughter)

Mametaro code switches here, starting off in relatively standard Japanese and

changing immediately into Osaka dialect. This kind of code switching is not unusual, but

suggests here that she is going into performance mode. Kansai dialect is very closely

associated with the comedy performance known as i, and, as stated earlier,

Mametaro wants to become a famous comedian. The switch could mean she is turning

on the role and embarking on a comedy routine. She takes the part of the , or wild

kyapi kyapi

manza

boke

11

and crazy half of the team, to Xavier’s , or straight “man.” Xavier sets

Mametaro up with the question, “What’s good about it?” and Mame replies with no

particular explanation, just good delivery, “Boys are just good (as we all know),”

followed by laughter.

Later Mametaro also emphasizes the male students’ youth and “cuteness,” and

calls upon a traditional stereotype when she uses the term to refer to them.

tends to be a more literary word and appears in textbooks and literature that

students would read in school. It is always used to refer to young male teenagers, and

tends to evoke an image of youthful energy and purity.

M: Ano, otoko no ko na, nanka na, kawaii ya. Um, guys, eh, like, they’re cute!

Honto kawaii yo. Shounen ga oru yo They’re really cute. There’s shounen here!

Kawaii shounen ga ippai otte na, demo na, There’s a whole bunch of cute shounen, but

yappa na, kawaikunai shounen mo of course, there’s some not-so-cute shounen

oru wake. Maa, ittara akan kedo around too. Shouldn’t say it, but…

X: Ossan mitai na ko ookunai? Don’t you think there’s a lot of slobby

types?

As indicated above, Xavier is more ambivalent about the changes. She may be

contradicting Mametaro and advancing her own opinion here, or just playing the “straight

man” and giving Mametaro the opportunity to digress about . ( is the Osaka

version of , middle-aged man, and carries connotations of rumpled and distracted.)

This section in fact leads into a separate “routine” regarding different types of men.

manzai tsukkomi

shounen

Shounen

ossan Ossan

ojisan

12

Xavier also points out that she doesn’t come into contact with the male students

directly, but she notes that she feels that in some way the atmosphere has changed. She

focuses on the change in relation to how it felt for her before, as opposed to how it feels

now. For Xavier, the emphasis is more on the “oppressiveness” she felt in an all-female

environment.

M: Jibun wa dou omou? Kawatta ka na What do you think? Do you think it’s

tte omou? changed?

X: Kawatta tte, datte, uchira no mawari tte oran. You say changed, but there aren’t that

many around us.

M; Un, oran na. Yeah, there aren’t, are there.

X: Tada, nan darou. Na:nka, a, demo nanka. But, hmm, like, ah, but somehow…

Ano, nan te iun. Joshi bakkari no toki Um, how can I say this? When it was only

women

no you na, nanka, uttoshisa ja nai kedo The kind of, not gloominess, but, something,

M: Un, wakaru wa. Yeah, I know what you mean.

X: Atsugurushisa ja nai kedo, nanka Not oppressiveness, but the, like,

kigurushisa wa nanka uncomfortableness has

M: Hetta? Decreased?

X: Chotto chigau ki ga suru It feels a bit different.

M: Kawatte kita. Funiki chau? Mazu. It’s different. Don’t you think the

atmosphere is different? First of all.

X: Un. Funiki ga. Ii imi demo warui imi demo. Yeah. The atmosphere. In both a good

sense and a bad sense.

13

Xavier is very tentative in advancing her opinion, and her uncertainty is

evidenced by the way she produces out a word and then negates it – not gloomy, not

oppressive – as she searches for an appropriate word. Obviously these words have

occurred to her, but she perhaps does not want to make the situation sound as bad as these

words would imply. Her mannerisms here display what would in traditional language

and gender studies be characterized as “feminine” – tentative, excessive hedging, indirect,

inconclusive, but these mannerisms serve to convey in concrete terms the ambivalence

she feels in regards to the all-female environment.

Both pairs of participants comment directly on the change in the women,

particularly in relation to appearance. Emiko notes the appearance of on the

campus, coinciding with the arrival of male students. The word “ ,” from the

English “gal,’ refers to a teenage girl who chooses a particular style which includes long

wavy dyed hair (usually brown but sometimes blond), heavy makeup (sometimes silver,

white or bright blue eye shadow), tanned skin, and leg-revealing apparel and high heels.

E: Na, do-donnan daro. Onna no ko no shitsu mo Hey, wh-what about it. The quality of

kawatta yo ne the girls has changed too, hasn’t it.

: Onna no ko mo kawatta. The girls are different, too.

: Watashi wa sore wa omou yo. I think so.

: Un. Yeah.

E: Onna, nante iu no, gyaru ga ookunatta. The women, what’s it called, there’s more

gyaru

S: Aa, wakaru.. Gyaru ne. Nanka heikin Ah, I know what you mean. Gyaru. It’s like

nenrei ga hikukunatta kanji ya na. the average age has lowered.

gyaru

gyaru

Ｓ

Ｅ

Ｓ

14

E: Sou. Un, nanka na--, mi, mita me ga That’s right. Yeah, like, people who lo-

chiteki na hito ga inakunatta. look intelligent have disappeared.

S: A--, un. Ah, yeah.

E: Kurogami ga inakunatta ssho Black hair has disappeared, hasn’t it.

S: Chapatsu ga ooi na. Lots of brown hair, eh.

E: Un, sou, sou, makigami ga ooi Yeah, right, right, lots of curls

S: Nna, kon nan, Omae, Beru Bara mitai na. Like this, eh. You look like The Rose of

Versailles. (Laughter)

E: Sou ya na. Sore o omotta. Na. That’s right. That’s what I thought.

S: Un Yeah.

Emiko and Satomi participate in the construction of an opposition between cute,

pure, young men and ultra feminine (and not so pure) young women. In terms of

category pairs discussed in the literature concerning conversation analysis (Ohara and

Saft 2003), , would normally be paired with , also traditionally an image of

youthful purity, although arguably one that has taken on a different connotation in

contemporary culture. Here, however, instead of , we see , who are defined

by appearance, and in the opinion of these women, an object of disdain, going beyond the

limits of acceptable or “proper” expressions of femininity, and not taken seriously as

students.

Mametaro and Xavier participate in a similar construction, albeit in a

characteristically ironic and humorous performance, concerning the way women present

themselves differently with the arrival of men on campus. Mametaro parodies the role of

expert commentator, employing the discourse particle “ma” in the following excerpt that

shounen shoujo

shoujo gyaru

15

focuses on appearance. While the performance is meant to be taken humorously, the

underlying assumption is that women focus on their appearance, particularly when men

are present. With this performance, Mametaro becomes complicit in the reproduction of

this stereotype.

M: Joshidai no toki wa, maa, faunde-shon When it was a women’s university, um,

3 senchi gurai nuttotta ka na. we applied about 3 cm of foundation.

Sore ni, maa, kyougaku ni natte kara On top of that, um, since it became coed,

Sore purasu 3 senchi gurai. Add about 3 cm to that.

De, maa, 6 senchi. Bai ni nattoru wake yo And, um, you have 6 cm. It’s doubled, you

realize.

In addition to commenting on appearance, Xavier and Mametaro go into an

extended conversation about two men in their Korean language class. In this excerpt,

gender issues are foregrounded when they comment on how the addition of men to the

classroom has affected the class dynamics.

X: Sou. E, Kankokugo ni na, futari na otoko Right. Um, With just the two guys in Korean

ga oru dake de funiki ga nanka class the atmosphere is like,

M: Zenzen chau. Completely different

X: Chau yo na. Joshi datta toki wa, joshi It’s different, isn’t it. When it was just

datta toki wa, nanka, homma ni women, when it was just women, like,

nanka, joudan toka mo nanka sonna ni really, like, there weren’t many people

“Hai, hai” toka iu hito ga inakutte going “Yeah, yeah” joking around.

M: Un, oran, oran. No, there aren’t, there aren’t.

16

X: De, shi— n toshita kanji de gogaku And it felt like the language learning

susundottakedo, danshi ga hitori otte, progressed silently, but with one guy

nanka, Sensei no ii tsukkomi aite ni like, he became the prof’s straight man,

nattotta. Sou yatte ba ga nagomutte iu ka. And just like that the place thawed out.

M: Sou. Right.

X: Nanka koukou mitai na. Somehow just like high school.

M: Wakaru, wakaru. I know, I know.

X: “Boku ga ne—“ “You know, I…” (masculine)

M: Demo yappri, sore wa ne--, nani ga But after all, that’s, you know, what

okottoru tte ittara, sensei, onna no happened was, the prof, the female prof

sensei wa na – yappari otoko no ko ga is, you know, when the guys came in,

haitte kite zettai ureshii to omou nen. I think she’s, happy, for sure.

Dakara, kuitsuki ga chau nen. So, the response is different, you know.

X: Laughter

M: Chotto, chotto na, misu tara na, otoko When he screws up even a little bit, the

no ko ga, so, sensei ga “honna ni guy, yeah, the teacher goes “What’s

machigaitoruka?” tte kou iu. with this kind of mistake?”

The women observe and evaluate a reaction on the part of the female teacher that

is not unusual. Research shows that male students are given and demand more attention

in class (Swann, 1998). It is interesting, however, that these women do not position

themselves as in this class. Instead, they place themselves outside the frame

and characterize the class as being silent and well behaved, learning language but not

having much fun. Rather than taking on the role of themselves, they allow a

male student to be responsible for changing the atmosphere. They believe that everyone,

tsukkomi

tsukkomi

17

including the teacher, is relieved that there are now male students in the class. The two

women in this case display a disconnect between the role they aspire to as comedians and

performers, and the part of the passive student they play in class.

An unacknowledged contradiction appears for Mametaro in particular. She states

that she prefers to converse with men because they are more interesting, but she does not

appear to recognize the fact that their presence constrains her behaviour. The following

extract illustrates this contradiction in a humorous manner.

M: Nanka, onna onna shitottara na, nanka Like, when it’s nothing but women, like

sono ten de na, gabba—tte ashi hirogete in that respect, eh, when it’s just women

onna no ko bakkari n toki ya de, konna there were girls stretching their legs out

benchi no ue de gabba—tte netoru ko gabba -- sleeping on top of the benches.

ottan ya. Sou iu hito ottan ya. Jissai ni There were people like that. In fact,

jibun yattonta yan ka. you did it too, didn’t you.

X: Shitenai ssho. I did not! (Laughter)

M: Sou hito ga, maa, hette ikeba ii ka na It would be good if that kind of person, um

tte omottottara. Yappa otoko no ko no decreased, I should think. As expected, as a

kouka de ban ban to herimashita wa. result of boys, they have decreased boom.

X: Hetta? Decreased?

M: Hetta to omou, watashi wa. I think they have decreased.

X: Hetta ka na. Hetta ka. Have they decreased? Have they?

M: Ammari gakkou kitenai kara shiran kedo I don’t come to school much, so I don’t

know, but…

X: Gakko kii ya Come to school! (Laughter)

M: Sukunakutemo watashi wa mou The fact is that I at least don’t do it

18

shinaku natta to iu koto de. anymore. (Laughter)

On one hand, the story may be seen simply as material for a comedy routine.

Mametaro is as usual in performance mode, setting herself up as the butt of the joke. In

reality, she may or may not feel constrained, and it is quite likely that the people who

know her would realize that she is being ironic and see the humor there. However, at the

same time, with a statement such as “It would be good if that kind of person decreased,”

she is reproducing the idea that women be more restrained, and take up less space.

She speaks in a neutral or even masculine way, presenting herself humorously as a “badly

behaved woman,” but in her jokes she makes fun of stereotypically feminine behaviour,

reinforcing traditional norms for acceptable female behaviour and appearance.

The women at this university are not ignorant of current scholarship regarding

issues around gender. In the interview, Satomi and Emiko directly comment on being

more conscious of gender issues, indicating that the ideas they have been exposed to at

university regarding gender have caused them to question the idea of femininity.

However, their conversation indicates that they are not sure that being aware of the issues

surrounding gender is necessarily a good thing, in that concepts they have always taken

for granted have been upset.

E: Saikin jenda- o manabidashichatara Lately since we’ve started learning about gender

sugoi kimon ni omou koto ippai dete lot’s of serious doubts have occurred to me,

kite, joseirashisa tte nani mitai na, like, what’s this thing called femininity?

otokorashisa tte nani mitai na What’s this thing called masculinity

S:Sono onna no ko rashii no, nanka sono That femininity, like, that fundamental thing

should

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kihon teki ni onna no ko rashii to iu koto ga called femininity,

doko kara umarete kurun ka. where does it originate from?

E: Sono kotoba o iwareru no ga dandan Gradually, being told that has, compared to

mukashi hodo,onnarashiku shinasai yo tte before, when I was told “Be more feminine”

iwaretara, imamade wa sunao ni, a, I honestly thought, until now “Oh, I have to

onnarashiku shinakya tte omottandesu yo.. be more feminine.

Saikin honto ni iwaretara, onnarashisa tte But lately when I’m told that, it’s like

Nani, mitai na femininity, what’s that?

E: Sore wa ii ka warui ka. Un. Whether that’s good or bad. Yeah

S: Ii no ka naa. Demo nanka saikin I guess it’s good. But lately,

wakaran mon ne. I just don’t know.

It is clear that there is some ambivalence around gender roles, and Emiko shows

her conscious or unconscious ambivalence around conceptions of what roles a woman

can take in her discussion with Satomi about starting a career.

E: Satomi betsu ni shuushoku shinakutemo Even if you don’t really look for a job,

zettai aru yo ne, Ie no mawari ni there will for sure be something, around the

house.

S: Nan no shigoto ga aru? What work is there?

E: E, ie no kaji toka. Um, housework and stuff.

S: Ya da, sonnan. No way, not that kind of stuff.

Emiko obviously at least entertains the idea that it is not necessary for Satomi, a

woman, to start a career, an idea that in traditional terms would be unthinkable for a man.

。

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It’s possible that she is looking at the work situation through the lens of a young person

who consciously rejects the traditional ideal, for males at least, of lifelong employment,

of dedicating oneself to one’s work. She may be buying into the , or contract

worker mentality, or her stance may reflect the current job market reality where

discrimination based on sex is still not uncommon. Satomi, however, immediately rejects

the idea of just staying home, indicating that for her, this is not an option. She obviously

has strong expectations for a career outside of the home.

It is clear, then, that even within a fairly homogenous group of women in terms of

age and educational experience, there is a wide spectrum of speech styles, ranging from

more masculine to more feminine, and these women to a great extent consciously choose

their style and use language as a resource to construct diverse identities. There also

appears to be a range of understanding of what kinds of career options are available to

them, from the non-traditional comedian to conventional homemaker. However, while

not all of the subjects in this study are necessarily employing norms for feminine speech,

I would argue that at the same time, there is an undercurrent of unacknowledged cultural

ideology and stereotype that constrains these women, again to a greater or lesser extent,

from questioning and de-naturalizing some of the norms traditionally attached to the

feminine. They are still reproducing stereotypes – the examples here being men as active

agents, representative of a masculine ideal, and women concerned about appearance.

Their conversations around the change in their university with the introduction of male

students into the environment give us some indication of the conscious and unconscious

ambivalence they feel around their place and role as a young woman in modern Japanese

freeter

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society and raise questions about the extent of significant or progressive changes in

gender relations in this community.

Nina Langton, Associate Professor, Critical Studies

University of British Columbia Okanagan

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